Tuesday, November 30, 2010

Return of the Creek

The rain was enough to bring some flow back to the creek. The little riffles are once again active. It won’t be long before the aquatic organisms that spent the dry time deep in the creek gravel will make their way back to the open water.

Now the deer don’t have to concentrate at the isolated pools and the creek banks won’t suffer further damage.

Even though we had over three inches of rain, the creek did not experience any flooding or even a strong flow. The water that entered the creek came primarily from ground water that had been restored during the rain event. Severe flooding in these small tributaries is a man made phenomenon. Poor land management practices destroyed the natural structure of the soil and reduced the ability of the soil to allow water to infiltrate. When water can’t move into the ground, it quickly flows across the surface to the stream and causes flash flooding. As the soil structure improves at Blue Jay Barrens, a greater percentage of rainfall is able to travel through the soil to the ground water layer and the creek suffers less from high flows.

The leaves were hardly disturbed by the resurrection of the creek. Leaves are the primary source of energy for the stream ecosystem. A multitude of organisms will work to break down these leaves and utilize their stored energy before the leaves get moved further down stream.

Larger organisms will pull leaves beneath the stream bed rocks and consume them at a leisurely pace. As the leaves get broken into bits, smaller organisms will cache the bits for later use.

It’s nice to have the creek back. I love listening to the water fall over the rocks and watching tiny insects working their way across the gravel and seeing the reflection of sky and rocks in the calm water. The creek is quite cheery during the winter and is a strong reminder of life when all else appears dormant.

Very interesting- we have a tiny creek behind our house that is fed from both storm water and ground water. It isn't the healthiest looking waterway- all the native vegetation was removed a long time ago and I'm trying to slowly restore it. But, last year we found a newt back there, so I'll take that as a good sign that the ecosystem isn't dead yet!

ABOUT BLUE JAY BARRENS

Located in the Bluegrass region of Southern Ohio, Blue Jay Barrens contains excellent xeric habitat inhabited by a wide variety of rare native plant and animal species. Since 1985, this private property has been managed to improve the integrity of the special ecosystems found here. This blog provides information on the current activities at Blue Jay Barrens.

RESPONSE TO COMMON QUESTIONS ABOUT THIS BLOG

It’s my intent to share information on current events at Blue Jay Barrens. Unless otherwise noted in the text, all photos were taken by me at Blue Jay Barrens.

Plant scientific names are from Gleason and Cronquist 1991. I realize that some changes in preferred nomenclature have occurred, but this is the principle reference I have been using for flora identification. Knowing this, I believe most people can figure out just what plant I’m talking about.

My discussions of flora and fauna are not intended to be a complete life history. There are plenty of good references for this type of information. I am discussing my personal experiences with plants and animals on this specific property. Any other information I may provide is intended to help you understand the significance of my observations.

MY 3 FAVORITE NATURE BOOKS:

1- Of Mosquitoes, Moths and Mice, by C Brooke Worth.2- Mosquito Safari: A Naturalist in Southern Africa, by C Brooke Worth.3- A Naturalist in Trinidad, by C Brooke Worth.

MY 3 FAVORITE FICTION BOOKS:

1- The Witches of Karres by James H Schmitz2- The Day of the Triffids by John Wyndham3- The Windhover Tapes (1st 3 volumes) by Warren Norwood

MY 3 FAVORITE MOVIES:

1- Vanishing Point 1971 with Barry Newman2- Flim Flam Man 1967 with George C Scott - also like the book by Guy Owens3- The Lathe Of Heaven 1979 with Bruce Davison - also like the book by Ursula K LeGuin

MY 3 FAVORITE TV SHOWS:

1- The Prisoner with Patrick McGoohan2- Fawlty Towers with John Cleese3- Kolchak: The Night Stalker with Darren McGavin